Giovanna III took control of the country in 1483 on the heels of the brutal war against the Aragonese, fought in defense of The Knights' sovereignty as a state and for control of Calabria. The war itself is considered a small defeat, as the Knights were forced to relocate to Corfu and the Neapolitan throne incurred massive war debts.

The situation in 1483 was dire, with pirates running amoke on the coasts, interest and inflation rates soaring and an army tired and demoralized from constant fighting - Giovanna had her qork cut out for her. Her first order of business was on the line of economic reforms, increasing the treasury in an effort to stave off deficits and help pay back the debts gained during the war. Although her edicts were at first looked upon with disdain, they proved wildly successful. By 1487 - all war debts had been repayed and Naples was once more a debt free nation.







Such responsible tactics earned her much love within the commerce and aristocrat factions, who threw their support behind the crown in great numbers. With such support, Giovanna expanded Naples' trade, launching an incentive into the Lubeck markets and grabbing a huge share of the market within two years! With the expanding economy, however, came problems.

Pirate raiders had always plagued the shores of Naples, and during the war the scoundrels took advantage of the nation's preoccupation with Aragon and had grown into a serious problem. Giovanna desired to enact a National defensive measure against them, one that went further than the Limited efforts of her Grandfather! Yet there was simply not enough coin to be found, it is said that Giovanna was furious, how could there not be enough coin? She had nearly single-handedly balanced the nation's credit!

It was, unfortunately, the reality of the situation. Pirates were ransacking coastal villages, preying on Neapolitan trade and THe Knights, an order dedicated to fighting them just a stone's throw away in Corfu, did nothing to aid! The queen sent missive after missive, demanding the Knights send patrols into the Adriatic, but there was always an excuse. The Grandmaster always had something else to do. And when he refused to meet with The Queen's messanger one late Tuesday, in the Augest of 1486, Giovanna had enough.



The Priories of St. John across Naples were closed, their assets siezed, and it was made a punishable crime to wear the symbol of The Knights in public. The Grandmaster declared Giovanna's acts blasphemous and appealed to the Pope for aid, but the Holy Father, already under pressure from Neapolitan threats to stay idle, did nothing.



Three months later, Giovanna made it official. The Knights of Corfu were declared enemies of the Neapolitan thone, criminals who in their inaction had not only dragged Naples into a costly war against aragon but had let pirates have their way with Christian shipping. Naples declared war upon Corfu and an invasion force of three thousand men invaded Corfu.



The Grandmaster was defeated in the field, his men retreated to their fortifications and the port was put under naval blockade. Refusing to surrender, however, the Corfu Knights fought off the siege desperately hoping that someone would come to their aid. However, their inaction against the pirate threat had not only been noticed by Naples, but by all the powerful city states. Only Genoa protested the landings on Corfu, but they knew better than to openly support the Knights.



Corfu was captured. Though she had no legitimate claim to the island, Giovanna annexed the Knights domain declaring their sovereignty null and void. The international community was shocked, but with the strain on their coffers provided by the pirates, they elected to say nothing.

With the Corfu Knights defeated, their priories siezed and all their riches added to that of naples, Giovanna declared an unofficial war against the pirates of the Adriatic. Her efforts lead to great works of defense built along the coastlines. Under her new anti-piracy measures, no village would be left unguarded, and by the end of her reign every last pirate gang who operated along the Neapolitan coast had been hunted down. Shipping activity skyrocketed in response as country after country declared piracy activity dropping to all time lows.

Shortly after the war against the Knights, a new Pope was elected by the Holy See. Unfortunately, it was no secret that the new Pope was in the pocket of the Aragonese throne - most thought nothing of it until the Papacy declared open war upon Urbino! Naples, having sworn to come to their ally's aid, responded by declaring war upon Rome, as did many other states of Italia. Against such a strong alliance, the Pope was easily defeated.

Giovanna petitioned the Allies to allow Naples to take control of Roma, but save Urbino, the was a nearly unanimous objection. Naples had recently been accused of involvement in the death of the Austrian king. Though a cruel lie, Naples had been successfuly framed with the event and her reputation severely tarnished. The allied coalition would not accept Naples in control of Roma. Therefore, Giovanna pushed to allow Urbino to take control. Some even protested this, as with the long history of Marriage between the two dynasties, they argued it would be the same as naples controlling Roma through them! Such arguements, in the end, failed.



The papacy lost the rights and privileges that came with ruling Roma and Naples' most trusted allied gained the ancient legacy of the city. While disappointed at the turn, Giovanna was glad such a compromise could be reached.

But while Napes had been fighting against otehr Italian interests, its truce with Aragon had expired. Giovanna had considered warning Aragon and setting her nation on the path to another war with the strong power - but she never got the chance!



The thrones of Aragon and Castile merged to form a united Spanish nation, which now controlled nearly all of the western Mediterranean. Naples, however, was not without allies. Even as Spain strengthened its new position, Portugal reached out to those surrounding the juggernaut, and in a surprising move guaranteed the independence of Naples. With such a guarantee, Giovanna felt relatively at ease. Spain would not risk crossing Portugal just to start a war with naples, but Sicily still groaned beneath their occupiers. A new strategy would be needed to deal with the diplomatic solution.

Sadly, Giovanna never had the chance to formulate it. She continued in her campaigning against pirates and introduced a bold new reorginization of the military. She increased the standing force from six to eight thousand, and introduced first the Longbow, and later the Wheel-lock rifle. She was seen as a modernizer, bringing her nation into new ideas whether it wanted them or not. She followed the examples of her Grandfather, heavily favoring Market Economy and worked tirelessly in expanding trade in both Lubeck and Orlan.



Giovanna died on Thursday, 16th of October 1515. The circumstances of her death have remained a mystery. Some say she was given a rather large dose of poison, others say it was simply her time. She had led the nation for over thirty years and had seen it through multiple social, economical and international crises. Despite the bickering and the objections she faced, the nation mourned greatly - as if they had lost a motherly figure. If she had known how they mourned, Giovanna would never have believed it for she always said "Let them hate me, so long as they are safe."

The new king Ferrante II, was greeted with suspicion and mistrust, possibly because of the shadow out from which he stepped. With a balanced deficit, a newly formed and strong army and diplomatic ties to many states in Italy (many through marriage) he had found himself command of a strong country. What he would do with that command, is beyond the scope of this recounting.

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OOC: Yes. We got the Framed! event, and while at 3/21 rep! Must have been 1 in a 100,000 chance. I lead us through it as best we could and got the rep down pretty low again. I think we're at around 7/21 now.